PEJ Statement in Response to the Granting of Motions to Dismiss Forslund v. Minnesota by the Ramsey County Court

October 26, 2016

Today, in response to the granting of defendants’ motions to dismiss Forslund v. Minnesota, challenging the state’s teacher tenure, dismissal, and layoff laws, Partnership for Educational Justice Executive Director Ralia Polechronis released the following statement:

“While the Minnesota courts have considered and ruled on many education cases in the past, this is the first time that they have been asked by parents to consider the constitutionality of teacher employment statutes. Under these circumstances, it’s no surprise that the battle for students’ rights will be hard fought.

The fact remains that far too many students in Minnesota, especially those from communities of color and low-income families, are not receiving the quality education to which they are entitled. The plaintiff families are preparing to appeal, and remain committed as ever to continue this fight until students’ rights are justly put above unfair job protections for chronically ineffective teachers.”

– Ralia Polechronis, Executive Director

Contact:
Melody Meyer
melody@edjustice.org | 646-770-7061

The Urgent Moral Case for Replacing Persistently Failing Schools

October 16, 2016

The Daily Beast

“At a time when social mobility, income inequality and joblessness for the under-educated dominate the national discussion, it is notable that our Presidential candidates have largely avoided talking about elementary and secondary education. In America today, a child raised in a family with earnings in the bottom quartile nationally is six times less likely to graduate from college than is a child whose family earns in the top quartile. Important as it is that candidates address the effect of college debt on low-income students, the odds for poor kids will not improve without change in the elementary and secondary schools that equip students for college in the first place.”

In a Tumultuous Presidential Campaign Season, a Rare Spotlight on Education Issues

October 14, 2016

Chalkbeat NY

“A senior policy advisor to the Hillary Clinton campaign channeled the Democratic presidential candidate at an intimate question-and-answer session on Thursday hosted by Teachers College at Columbia University.

Christopher Edley, Jr. — a former U.C. Berkeley School of Law dean and expert in civil rights and education policy — talked about charter schools, early childhood education, and how to better serve English Language Learners.”

Number of NYC Public School Teachers Collecting Full Pay Without Full-Time Jobs Down 21%

October 13, 2016

New York Daily News

“The number of city school teachers receiving full pay without having a full-time assignment at a school has dropped 21% over the last three years, the city Education Department said Thursday.

Officials said there are currently 1,304 teachers in the active teacher reserve pool, down from 1,668 in October 2013.

Teachers can be placed in the so-called ATR pool if they worked in schools that are downsized or their subjects have been cancelled. But the pool also includes teachers who received unsatisfactory ratings or committed wrongdoings.”

Survey: New Yorkers Support Improving, Not Repealing the Common Core Standards

October 6, 2016

City & State New York

“A new survey conducted by High Achievement New York, a pro-Common Core group, found that New Yorkers strongly support improving rather than repealing the Common Core education standards, and want state leaders to change the name of the controversial standards.

The survey found that 53 percent of respondents would rather improve the current standards, while 26 percent want to repeal the standards and 45 percent of respondents supported changing the name. The poll surveyed nearly 500 respondents from across the state.”

Infographic: No Child Left Behind v. the Every Student Succeeds Act

October 4, 2016

Educators 4 Excellence Blog

After years of trying to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Congress and President Obama passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in December 2015. Here are some of the key differences between the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, the last amendment to ESEA, and ESSA.

See Infographic Here

Defendants’ Reply Briefs in Support of Defendants’ Consolidated Appeals

October 3, 2016

Tisch Backs State’s Draft Learning Standard Revisions, Calling Changes ‘Quite Normal’

September 30, 2016

By Keshia Clukey | Politico New York

“ALBANY — The state education department’s draft revisions to the Common Core-aligned learning standards maintain the standards’ strength, former state Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch told POLITICO New York, but the true test for how the state’s education program develops will be in the state’s changes to assessments and teacher evaluations.

‘I never expected, nor could I think the state of New York tolerate, a review of the standards that walked away from what we know are the basic principals of rigor in order for our children to compete in the global economy, which is getting tougher by the minute,’ she said in a recent interview.”

David Boies: Lawyers Who Lead by Example 2016: Lifetime Achievement

September 20, 2016

By Phil Albinus | New York Law Journal

“Not every attorney has been portrayed by Ed Begley Jr. in an HBO film, by George Clooney on the stage and by himself in the series finale of a popular TV drama.

But David Boies, the chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, is not your everyday lawyer. If there was a groundbreaking case in the past three decades, there’s a good chance that Boies was involved.

In 1993, Boies recovered $1.2 billion from companies that sold junk bonds to savings and loan associations when he served as counsel to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. From 1998 to 2000, he successfully represented the U.S. Department of Justice in its antitrust case against Microsoft.”

Did one Connecticut judge just change the conversation about education inequality?

September 13, 2016

By Jennifer Alexander | The Hechinger Report

“‘Schools are for kids.’

In that one short statement, Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher delivered a harsh rebuke to anyone who has forgotten that simple truth.

His ruling reminded all of us that our state has a constitutional obligation to fulfill a right of the highest importance: a great public education. In a court ruling that was mainly about how much we should be spending on education, Judge Moukawsher went deeper into the issue because money alone cannot and will not solve our persistent educational shortcomings.”

Partnership for Educational Justice